The Peninsula Panthers knock off the Oceanside Generals 3-1 Monday night in the wild card game

The Peninsula Panthers headed up early afternoon to take on the Oceanside Generals in a one-game winner-take-all.  The game - dubbed the wild card game - met all expectations as both teams roared up and down the ice all night long.  But in the end, it would be the cats from the Peninsula who would prevail, besting the Oceanside Generals by a convincing 3-1 count.

Justin Anderson was solid between the pipes making every single key save he needed to and in doing so, pushed his Club over the top.

Scoring for the Panthers was Drew Coughlin, Marshall Brown and Ty Hermsen.  Hermsen's goal came at the 14:57 mark of the final stanza on a pass off the stick of 20-year-old Duncan Cochrane.  The pass threaded through a would-be defender and onto the stick of Hermsen who made no mistake.  The pass might have been the best of the season for the Panthers.

Coach Tippett addressed the room after the game and will be preparing his troops to take on the Campbell River Storm in the Best-of-7 Round 1 series.  Tippett stepped outside the dressing room and had this to say when discussing the game:

"It was a very gutsy grind it out road win.  We knew they would come out of the gate very hard.  I thought the longer the game was tight, the momentum would begin to swing our way.  The Owens, Brown, Coughlin line had numerous chances until Coughlin converted that nifty pass from Brown.  They tied it up after an unnecessary Icing.  Brown's goal, coming just two minutes later, restored the lead and was huge.  With the 3rd period potentially being their last of the season, we knew they would come out desperate.  We broke the 3rd period into four - 5 minute mini-periods...each with a different theme.  Our guys stuck to the plan.  Hermsen, Hale and Duncan Cochrane had forechecked hard all night and were rewarded with a goal after a sweet saucer pass from Duncan to Hermsen.  We shut them down from there.

Another huge key was the confident play of young Goaltender Justin Anderson.  He made two very crucial saves, smothering any sniff of momentum.

Just a solid team effort.  We were a determined lot tonight.  Shota Yamamoto twice was leaking after he took pucks to the face and never missed a shift."

A tentative schedule is in place but not yet confirmed.  It will see the Storm open at home against the Panthers this Friday night while Game 2 looks like it will be back at the Panorama on Saturday afternoon with a 2:00 pm start.  Follow the Panthers website for further details.  It is expected that the schedule for the series will be released early Tuesday afternoon.